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MLB Picks

Giants Enter World Series Game 3 as MLB Odd Favorites vs. Royals

It's all tied up at one game apiece, and now the series shifts back to San Francisco. Let's examine the MLB odds for Game 3 before handing out our favorite play on the board.

Odds Overview
At this time, the Giants are favored at a price of -125 on the MLB odds board, with certain books having a slightly higher number available. Whatever the case, it's San Francisco that's clearly installed as the favorite for Game 3 of the World Series. No surprise there.

Will we see a pitcher's duel, or the two offenses step up at the plate? Oddsmakers have released a total of seven runs, so it looks like they're thinking it'll be the former.

San Francisco Giants (Hudson)
The Giants were unable to carry over their Game 1 success into Game 2, losing 7-2 in Kansas City.

Jake Peavy picked up the start and he didn't have his best outing. He allowed six hits and four earned runs over five innings of work, and he also walked more batters (two) than he struck out (one). All in all, it was a night to forget on the mound for the experienced right-hander.

Offensively, San Francisco couldn't get much going against Yordano Ventura. Gregor Blanco was one of the few, as he hit a solo homer, while Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt hit doubles. However, the Giants couldn't put a significant amount of runs on the board despite racking up nine hits.

Now it's Tim Hudson's turn to take the mound to try and give San Francisco the advantage in the series again. Hudson has been terrific in the postseason so far -- he stifled Washington in his one start against them, allowing just one run over 7.1 innings, and then ate some innings against St. Louis despite not having his best stuff.

That being said, this is why Hudson was brought on board by the Giants. He's had tons of postseason experience and has pitched in these hugely important moments before. Can he rise to the occasion again?

Kansas City Royals (Guthrie)
After a crushing Game 1 loss at home, the Royals regained some pride by turning around and getting a 7-2 win in Game 2.

Yordano Ventura didn't have his most electric stuff by any stretch of the imagination, but he escaped danger and that turned out to be the deciding factor.

Despite surrendering eight hits, Ventura only allowed two runs to plate, which kept Kansas City in firm control. He finished with two strikeouts and didn't allow a walk, with his postseason ERA now sitting at 4.42.

Friday night's starter will be Jeremy Guthrie, who's only made one playoff appearance this season. He looked good, allowing only three hits and one run over five innings in a win over Baltimore. If Guthrie is somehow able to post a similar outing in San Francisco, the Royals will be in a great position to take hold of the series.

On the hitting side of things, the usual suspects like Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez will be counted on to get things going at the plate. They'll likely face a tough go of it against Hudson, however.

MLB Pick
Now that the Royals have proven they're beatable, it makes it easier to go against them. The postseason magic has seemingly worn off a little bit, and the Giants have shown they're not going to go down easy.

Looking at Game 3, the pitching advantage is in San Francisco's favor. Hudson has been great in the playoffs so far, and even though Guthrie looked solid in his only postseason start so far, we're still not sold on him as a big-game pitcher.

Back at home with the crowd firmly behind them, we look for the Giants to win, making their short price all the more appealing. Take San Francisco with your MLB picks.